hardship programs

It's highly doubtfull that they will reduce your balance unless you've been missing several payments in a row and they eventually agree to a lump-sum settlement to close out your account (and they would only do this if they saw that you were heading towards bankruptcy).

If your account is active (you are making payments on it), then they see it as profitable and won't likely reduce the balance (otherwise, your account wouldn't be as profitable, and that is their focus... not on your ability to repay, but how much profit they can squeeze out of your account).

I say "highly doubtful" and "won't likely" because... well, anything's possible... just not probable.

Hardship programs are designed to keep your balance from reducing much, to keep your account in good standing and to keep you paying on their terms.

Hope this helps...

how did you get them to do a hardship for you? were you behind in payments? how long is your hardship program for? I haven't had much success in that area yet. Citibank did just lower my interest rate from 29% to 20% (I guess effective my next payment since it's dated afer my last one was due). But I can't even pay this month. So it's not going to do me much good!

I am curious too as I tried with Advanta and they just flat denied me any assistance. How many payments, if any, were you behind?

I agree with jjanney. It's pretty unlikely that they will reduce your balance as part of a hardship program. The only reason that they give hardship programs is that they hope you will get back on your feet and be able to return to making full payments on your account.

To Kristin and In a Mess, my creditors started offering me hardship programs as soon as I started missing payments and they started making collection calls. You have to tell them that the reason you are behind is because you are experiencing a hardship.

Discover definitely offers hardship programs.

I'm not sure that they would lower it again if you have already entered a hardship program. Someone else may have experience in this area since I don't, but my understanding has been that once you enter a hardship program, you really need to try to keep up your end of the agreement if you don't want the program to terminate.

I am of the belief that it never, ever hurts to ask because all they can do is say no. However, it is entirely possible they would deny it. I would like to say that I had tried every option available.

In general credit card hardship programs are a joke. I have two credit cards in good standing that I use maybe once a year. One is MBNA which switched to BOA and the other is CITI. They both have fixed rates at 12.5% and have been fixed at that rate since I opened them over 5 years ago. That is a standard rate and they still make money. I did not apply for any hardship to get that rate. Basically what I am getting at is unless they are offering you 0% for a year or reducing your principle then they aren't really doing you any favors because all they are doing is moving you to the rate it should have been to begin with.

i am currently in a hardship program with discover and they reduced the amount that i owed as well as my interest to .99 fixed apr...

I called BOA I had an interest rate of over 30% which is crazy. They gave me hardship with 4% interest.

I'm on a hardship program with GE Money Bank (CareCredit). They reduced my interest to 9% from about 26%. They are still reporting me to the credit bureau as delinquent because they say I still owe $87 past due amount. I'm paying $23 and even with the reduced interest only about $7 is going toward my principal of over $2000. :lol:

some companies may reduce your balance depending on how many payments you've missed or they may offer you a really low settlement of more than 70% of the total balance. so i say it never hurts to ask and if they want their money they will work with you.

we are currently being sued by cachllc-the credit card was open on or around 2004-from bank of america-should I ask them for validation of this debt-my husband was off work and is currently on disability retirement

I am behind on my mortage payments, I've tried sending in partal payments to have them send it back to me. So I called and told them that my husband lost his job, and could they lower the interest rate, flat out told me NO. is there any way to get them to lower the interest so that I can continue to pay for my home?

I am curious as to how people are justifying "hardship." What are some key phrases that any of you used, or situations you descirbed, that got you to qualify?

Have you called in and asked for a Loan Modification? Try calling in and asking for the Loss Mitigation department. Lenders really do not want to foreclose...it costs them a ton of money.

Hi madioocha,

Don't worry, go to court - they will find in your favor.

You should only send Debt Validation letters to those creditors who you feel you do not owe. It is not a method to get a delay in collection activities.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

chrys

I have found that most credit card companies will work with you on the hardship program. The only one that I didn't have any luck with was BoA. LOL they go for a hand out yet want help the people that helped them.

I think the credit score junk should be done away with. Right now people need to get access to funds. I ran into the problem the banks raise or require the credit score or fico score to be so high that most of us can not get the loans we need to consoildate or pay off the credit cards and have one payment. Something needs to be done with the fico stuff!

hardship programs... that I have entered into is because I lost income, got behind on payments credit cards and mortages. I was put on a hardship program for a year...now who nows what will happen after that year. My payments may go through the roof. At least the interest and late payments fees have stop and the accounts are closed and hopefully they report it at least making payments.

Does the hardship program affect your credit score? Does it make the account default when you enter the program, and does the rate expire in a set time frame? Would scenarios qualify for the hardship program?

Thanks!!!

Are you saying that Debt Consolidation Programs offer 'Hardship programs'..or...do you mean the CA's may have 'Hardship Programs' you may qualify for?

the banks are insane, there are soo many tricks they pull on us common folk. i used squareone east debt settlement and settled my $20000 debt for $9800 in 24 mths ,the best part was i saved the money in my own account. they said they sent some letter and then the phone calls stopped. i would reccomend them

Hi Guest,

They're not insane, they're greedy.

chrys

i am in a plan with discover. my payment stayed the same($76), and they automatically withdraw it for the next 6 months, but my interest droppped from $29.99% to 3.99%. i was late by 2 days, that's why my interest was so high. i never completely missed a payment. but now, instead of $60 going towards interest, only $12 is.

I settle with Discover all the time.

I am going through this right now. I am not behind on any payments, but BoA upped my rate to 27.99%. My fault entirely, my last payment was $5 short. I use automatic bill pay through my bank and pay a set amount monthly. Didn't realize my minimum payment went up and I was $5 short. Well, that's how my 1.9% was bumped to 27.99%.

KEEP calling them! On my third try, I did get someone willing to help me. They transfered me to a debt counseling company after I talked with them a while. The debt counseling can't do anything for me. They told me to call back BoA and ask for a hardship plan. They gave me a number to call, which I am going to call this afternoon. I told them that I want to pay my debt, not walk away from it. My interest rate is due to go up to 19.99% in April. Hello, we are there. I told them that I can't afford the 19.99%. So, I will call this afternoon. I'll post the # later if anyone wants it. You don't go to Customer Service with this number, you go to people who will try to help you, that is what I was told.

Good luck! Keep calling, you WILL eventually get someone who will listen and try to help you. I do agree with one poster, you need to have a good attitude and tone when calling. Try to keep upbeat.

866-635-4311

I called them. They couldn't offer me a hardship plan, but they could offer me a debt settlement. I have too much debt for the hardship program. My payment would have only gone down $30 a month on that anyways. No help to me. The settlement on $15K is just under $9K which I have 3 months to pay. Offer good for 'today' only... How can I commit to that when I don't know where I will get $9K?

The lady was very nice though. I thanked her alot during the process... Good luck!

I too have entered into a hardship program with BOA. I had missed about 3 payments. My advise is that when you call and ask about the program DO NOT accept the first thing they throw out there. They offed me 5.5% fixed rate for 5 years with a payment of 180 each month. I told the man that I could not pay 180 because I had to eat and put gas in my car. He then offered 0% fixed rate for 58 months with a payment of 160.00 a month. I couldn't turn that one down.

Well normally a hardship program will take a larage amount that is owed,t hey will then do an expesnse sheet and program setup to see if you can afford to pay your bills.. BOA did this with me, they took all my expenses and then took my income and found that i wasnt just bs'ing them and they then came back and gave me a loan for $190 a month for five years.. for a 10k debt i had them with.

I just got reduced by discover to 9% for 6 months and they say afterwards if all is good and you're still having a hard time they can reduce to 3%. discover and capital one are hardballs on settling so if you can get a lower percentage, i say go with it.

I just got reduced by discover to 9% for 6 months and they say afterwards if all is good and you're still having a hard time they can reduce to 3%. discover and capital one are hardballs on settling so if you can get a lower percentage, i say go with it.

mentioning lost overtime at work and got hardship program with discovercard. lowered montly pmt from 127 to 64 dollars but had to sign up for auto withdrawl, which is ok, it will help. i mentioned to the agent that what i really needed was a bailout and she chuckled a little. she also mentioned if this plan isn't working out they might be able to do something else, hope it won't come to that. feels like it will take forever to pay it off..

I have successfully gotten my mortgage company to lower my payments by 50% and I have worked out payment plans with 3 credit card companies and total balances above $50,000. Basically, just explain what happened. For me it was a loss of rental income and overtime at work. Then all my credit cards decided in the bad economy is when it would be a good time to increase interest rates so I could no longer afford the payments. Just call them up, tell them you are seeking legal advice on declaring bankruptcy but your attorney told you to call them and try to work out payment programs first before you declare bankruptcy. You will have to detail all of your income vs. expenses in an interview process. Make sure to have all of that detailed and ready before you call in. It will make it easier. If they decline your request, go online and look for the info on the higher-ups like the VP or the President of the company. Send a letter to them explaining why you feel you shouldn't have been declined (if you are in a genuine hardship ONLY) and they will get back to you. Those people are much more helpful than the regular customer service people.

vee,

I have 30K deb on BOA (17% interest). today I called them and told that I am having hardship paying payments. I told my wife lost job and given expenses and net income. You should qualify if net income is slightly higher than all expenses.

They agreed that tehy will close the account and reduced 5% I have to pay - 586 for 60 months for 31,000

Thats not bad..


I have two cards with Citi .. totaling 21,000 .

I enrolled in PA .. which lower my minimum payments for 12 months with zero percent rate.




yu

key words is hardships and employer cut backs my cards went from 16.9% to 0% citi 7.9% to 0% BOA and 12.9% to 6% chase so keep trying. dont consider bankruptcey if you dont have kids. no kids you keep 7500 of personal property 50000 with kids what a joke thats discrimination aginst people without kids we want them and cant have any its kinda like rubbing it in our face

I have about $25k in debt to Citi. After missing one payment, they started calling. With one phone call, they lowered my rate to 0% for 12mos, my min monthly reduced by half.

GM card (HSBC) not so accomodating. They actually tried to draft the entire balance directly from my bank account without my auth.

I hope you all realize that going into a hardship program CLOSES YOUR ACCOUNT, because I didn't. Yet a few weeks later I pulled my credit report and the credit cards that I was enrolled in hardship programs for, now all say closed. I called the companies and they confirmed that that's part of the deal. So while you're all saying how great it is to have reduced payments, if you think after you've made all your payments you'll have a credit card with a 0 balance and all this credit to use later, you're sorely mistaken.

"if you think after you've made all your payments you'll have a credit card with a 0 balance and all this credit to use later, you're sorely mistaken."

The point is to get out of debt not just to pay it off and start using it again.

try naca.com to gereat your mortgage lowered. great company

naca.com, sorry bout the previous posting. i meant to post, great company.

Does it affect your credit score if you do get approved for a hardship loan by discovery

Quote:

I had a balance of over $13,000 - not only did they settle for a lump sum of $10,000 but they let me keep the card and my credit score didn't drop or did my credit amount on the card drop a $1.

That is why I love Discover Card.

American Express though ... oh my god, what a nightmare. My father was helping me out when I lost my job. He took over the payments. For some damn reason I was signed up for electronic statement online and didn't receive the bill and missed a billing cycle. They kicked me off the hardship program immediately and I am on the phone with them right now trying to get back into it. They are charging me over $150 in finance charges every month and won't budge on anything!

NEVER WILL I GET AN AMEX AGAIN!

Quote:

I just talked to a bank about hardship programs.I have been contemplating bankruptcy, but I don't really want to go this route.

Problem is, my work situation is unstable now.They want to extract $34/month from my checking account. I can't guarantee that the amount will be there because I am struggling to keep up with my mortgage, utilities, taxes, telephone and gas (so I can go to work when called).

If I don't participate in their program,I will be stuck at 28.99% interest, if I go with them , it can be reduced to 7%?

I'm not number savvy at all, but I smell a rat...I explained to this creditor that when I received the card, it wasn't my intent to lose 32 hours a week of work or sit and figure out how to screw them intentionally.

I'm looking for a new full-time job, but enough said, we all know how that is right now.

Any ideas?

I just signed up for a BOA hardship program after missing a payment and being late on the current one. I owe about 10,000 and they lowered my interest rate from 24 to 7.5 percent, and lowered my minimum monthly payment from 370 to 220. They closed the account and signed me up for a five-year program with no increase in interest rate. I can more than the 220 per month and pay off the balance faster without any penalties. They asked about my monthly income and expenses, and when I said I had hardship when my roommate moved out and my rent doubled, I qualified.

Does anyone know if you can just go on line and cancle the hardhsip program? I am having trouble even making the payments they offered me? I am filling bankruptcy and need then to stop taking the payments out of my checking account. I've lost the agreement and web address for the hardship programs. No one on the phone seems to know what i'm talking about or ever willing to help me figure out how to stop the payments. I didn't tell them about bankruptcy of course. Becasue then I know they wouldnt help.

A "hardship program" is a program that credit card companies sometimes offer to people who have had either an illness, loss of job, etc., that has caused them not to be able to make the minimum payment on their cards. They usually will either suspend payments of a certain period or offer you alower payment option. The problem with this is that when the time period is up, you will be right back where you are now and usually with more debt..interest piling up. This is a good option if you anticipate that your financial situation will greatly improve by the end of the hardship period. If you don't think it will improve then you are just delaying trying a better course of action. Your other choices are bankruptcy, debt consolidation or debt settlement.

Bankruptcy is pretty drastic but may be right for you. Just remember that it will stay on your credit for 10 years and effect your ability to borrow money in the future. The laws are more difficult now then they used to be and not everyone will be able to declare bankruptcy and you may still have to pay a portion of your debts.

Debt consolidation reduces your interes rate but not the principal balance you owe. So, your payments will be less but not as low as with debt settlement. Debt settlement reduces your debt up to 60%. You will have to stop paying on your credit cards in order for the debt settlement company to negotiate your balance. Both debt settlement and debt consolidation effect your credit but, once your debts are settled your credit score will begin to go back up.

Trying to contact Best Buy/HSBC to find someone to talk to about hardship program-Anyone know a good phone number to call